5/3/17

What is the place of the older rookie in baseball? In some cases you have people who played in
other countries before finally breaking into MLB. Then it’s clearly understandable when you
have a 30+ rookie making his major league debut.

However, what about when it’s someone who has bounced around
the minors and the independent leagues for quite some time before ever getting
his big chance? In 2013 the Mets
featured (and promptly burned out) a 31 year old rookie by the name of Scott “Everyday”
Rice who appeared in 72 games that season.
He was never the same, but the very nature of a 31 year old making the
team was quite unusual.

Last year the Mets finally promoted a skilled batsman by the
name of T.J. Rivera who made his rookie debut at the ripe old age (by baseball
standards) of 27. He had 105 ABs last
year and no longer qualifies as a rookie, so this year’s mantle passes to
reliever Paul Sewald who returned for his second stint with the club at the
same age of 27.

The problem with breaking in at these advanced ages is that
you have to be at least three times as good as the other players to get
noticed. Consequently they have the
double whammy for the current manager of being a rookie and not having the
pressure to insert the player into the lineup because he was not highly
regarded. That, of course, sets said
players up to fail as they get rusty from lack of use. Then it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy
when they don’t succeed.

Why it was only 2003 when the Mets promoted a fresh-faced
Dominican shortstop with blazing speed named Jose somebody or other, yet now it
seems 21 is too young for Amed Rosario to make the same journey to Queens.

A Riddle Wrapped in a Mystery Inside an Enigma

Back in 2014 the Mets drafted a third baseman from my adopted
hometown of El Paso named Eudor Garcia.
I profiled his selection here as I had the opportunity to interview his
college coach, Rob Martinez. Garcia
started off in “meh” fashion but in 2015 he turned in a 9/59/.296 season in the
hitter’s hell of Savannah. Maybe those
Nintendo numbers he produced at El Paso Community College meant something after
all.

Unfortunately the news broke in January of 2016 that he was
popped for a PED violation and received an 80-game suspension. Ouch.
Now you didn’t know what you had after all. He returned in 2016 and over the 2nd
half of the season produced 5/32/.280 – not great but certainly encouraging.

Curiosity got the better of me and I began wondering where
he was playing this year. Imagine my
surprise to find him on none of the rosters and none of the DLs. Mack reached out to a few of his minor league
sources and turned up bupkis. I reached
out to his former coach and he said he hadn’t heard from him in a few
years. Mack pursued some of the Latin
ballplayers who stuck to the “nada” answer when asked what they knew about
him. I reached out to him on Twitter but
haven’t gotten a reply.

Of course, anytime people aren’t forthcoming with their whereabouts
the rumors start to fly a’la Richard Simmons’ recent disappearance from public
view. If anyone out there knows what’s
become of the burly 3rd baseman, I’d sure like to unravel the
mystery.

Who’s the Odd Man Out in the OF?

There’s going to come a time in the near future when not
only Brandon Nimmo but also Yoenis Cespedes are both going to be healthy enough
to play major league games. When that
fateful day arrives the heretofore unresolved logjam in the outfield gets one
more sardine shoved into the can.

Play GM. What would
you do? Obviously Michael Conforto has
played himself into a starting role despite the budgetary plan to keep him
buried in AAA this season. Jay Bruce has
not yet embarrassed himself at 1B but clearly is more comfortable (if not
defensively gifted) in the outfield.

A lot depends on what happens during the month of May while
the ailing duo are convalescing. If the
Mets stay within say a half dozen games of first place, they’re not likely
going to do anything dramatic as the division is still within reach (despite
Washington dramatically showing what it’s like to have a real offense).

To me, as much as I’d like to see Curtis Granderson moved
for the proverbial bag of balls and salary relief, I think the smarter move is
to trade the increasingly expensive Juan Lagares who is owed $6.5 million for
2018 and $9 million for 2019. The cost
is not exorbitant by big market club standards, but as we know that’s not how
the Mets do business. An average annual
cost of $7.5 million for the next two years for a Gold Glove centerfielder
might be more appealing than would the remaining $7.5 million of salary for
half a year of the guy at the bottom of the majors in batting. After all, Granderson’s salary is gone at
year end but that obligation to Lagares extends for 2 more years.

Of course, another way to go is to keep Brandon Nimmo in AAA
“just in case”. That requires less
effort and imagination, so it may actually be the more likely way to go.

Finally, there is the “Trade Jay Bruce while he’s hot”
approach, but the other GMs are not dumb.
They know he’s notoriously streaky and he could cool off to 2016 NY Mets
levels at anytime.

10
comments:

I really appreciated watching PAUL SEWALD last night. Fastball with movement, hit 94 on the gun once, nice breaking stuff, thought he got squeezed on a few Freddie Freeman pitches before he walked him. I would prefer to see him stay with the Mets over Salas.

Harvey pitching like Dillon Gee. From Dark Knight to off night.

Grandy had a good game...still no hits but no outs either, for a change. Play Lagares daily.

nimmo not hitting in rehab. Flores is hitting a whole lot. Get him back here.

Re: Garcia... we can only hope for the best here, but it is hard to believe that someone with this kind of potential talent would just disappear. Yes, my 'sources' came up short, but they were few. It could be they just do not know anything.

Re: The Mets outfield, the team would be completely lost right now without both Bruce and Conforto. That sews up two of the starting slots in my outfield. Obviously, Cespedes fills the other when he comes back and I agree with you that, if you could get a mid range prospect at the AA level for Lagares, you do the deal and let Grandy sit this one out on the bench with Nimmo, waiting for the next injury.

I would really like, more than Garcia, to know if Jeff McNeil's injury was serious. Guy misses a little over a full season after 3 early games in 2016, then recently rejoins St Lucie, plays in 4 games and goes 7 for 14, with 2 homers and 5 RBIs, then gets hurt again. If a long term injury, very sad.

Is now the time management is deciding do we really have a shot or lets play for next year. With only 1 ace left I would think they'd give it another month and then if the Nats are 10+ ahead and no other starter is fairing well it's something to think about. Mack how about your updated thought's on how you would proceed.

Vicente Lupo is probably somewhere striking out against injustice. He surely had enough training striking out. 446 in 1129 official minor league at bats, to be precise including 107 in 265 at bats (41%) in 2016. Rick Ankiel was his hitting coach, no doubt. Rick fanned 60 times in 128 at bats in 2013, but unlike Grandy, he managed 15 extra base hits and 18 RBIs in those limited at bats and hit .188.

He also coached former met prospect Ivan Wilson, who fanned 317 times in 742 career at bats (43%).

Speaking of former Mets prospects, Jack Leathersich is on the Cubs' AAA temporary inactive list after 4 games in April where he pitched 3 innings and allowed 4 hits and 10 walks, numbers of the kind that forced Rick Ankiel to switch to being a hitter.